Chapter 2

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 2

Chapter Title: Do You Want Power?

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“......Who are you?”

Roel frowned slightly.

“This is my private dorm room. The academy rules forbid anyone else from entering. I don't know where you're speaking from, but please leave.”

Her voice was firm and clear.

Even if she was just a 'half-seat,' she was still a Blessed One and a noble.

She could express that much intent.

Of course, she wasn't completely calm.

There was no one in this academy weaker than Roel. This had been proven in the recent match, and most students were aware of it.

What if one of the invited Blessed Ones had a nasty personality?

What if they had come to harass her...

Just like in the match, Roel wouldn't be able to put up any real resistance.

“......Not answering? Then I'll call a professor.”

Unable to bear it any longer, Roel stood up from her desk.

No matter who was here, escaping was the best option.

'This is my room, though.'

A bit of melancholy washed over her, but there was nothing else she could do.

Roel swallowed a sigh with effort and placed her hand on the doorknob.

The voice spoke again, and Roel froze.

This wasn't a stop born of surprise or panic—some 'emotion.'

Her body had halted against her will.

“What is this...? Where are you speaking from!? Release me right now!”

No matter how hard she strained, her arm wouldn't budge.

All she needed was to turn the knob slightly, but even that was impossible.

“Enough with these malicious pranks. If you keep this up, I'll file a formal complaint with the academy...!”

It felt overwhelmingly oppressive.

As if whatever she did didn't matter—they simply demanded an answer to the forced question.

The unidentified voice spoke once more.

The greatest fear is fear of the unknown.

In this unprecedented situation, Roel's eyes began to glisten slightly.

“I, um...”

She hesitated for a long time.

What happens if I answer?

Do I have to tell the truth?

Who the hell is this person...?

But at the point where she couldn't move, all those worries were meaningless. Roel realized that.

In the end, she answered the voice.

“Our first meeting is enough for now.”

I leaned back in my chair.

The tension in my spine eased, bringing a profound sense of comfort. It felt like some fatigue was lifting.

What a strange thing. I had no physical exhaustion, yet my mental fatigue was immense.

......Am I existing only as a spirit?

Complicated thoughts crept in, but I pushed them aside.

Looking back at the monitor, Roel was still there.

Roel wore a dazed expression, as if she couldn't believe what had happened.

Roel was a growth-type protagonist.

Even though she was a character from a trash novel and still terribly immature, protagonists had their reasons for being protagonists.

To cut to the chase, Roel had answered my question with 'Yes.'

She had also refused at the same time.

Even before I made the offer, her firm rejection suggested she had some grasp of my intentions.

Nurturing these 'protagonist qualities' of Roel's would be my role going forward.

To do that, I needed to figure out what I could actually do...

“It said to use the computer for other details, right?”

When Roel reached for the doorknob, I had instinctively hit the spacebar.

Normally, that should have just paused the video, but for some reason, only Roel froze.

Thanks to that, I was able to finish the conversation with her successfully.

Leaving Roel in her confusion behind, I moved the mouse.

Moving it to the corner of the window revealed three familiar buttons.

Minimize, reduce, close.

Clicking close would probably turn off the video.

Not knowing what would happen to Roel if it did, I hit minimize instead.

As the screen minimized, only the sound of Roel muttering to herself remained.

“Desktop.”

As expected, minimizing brought up the desktop.

There were only two apps installed.

-Suggestion Box

-Shop

Their purposes were obvious at a glance.

The shop intrigued me, but I clicked 'Suggestion Box' first.

“......This is a bit weird. Didn't the author possess me?”

There was something I hadn't thought deeply about amid all the chaos.

Was all this really just one author's doing?

The possession in just three minutes, the perfect replication of my room—it was hard to believe a single author could pull this off.

Well, possession itself was absurd anyway...

Even accounting for that, this Suggestion Box was far too systematic.

Two hypotheses came to mind.

Either this author was a serial offender.

Or there were multiple possessors like me in some other world or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whatever.

Either way, suggestions first.

I could learn a lot from this.

I started typing on the keyboard.

Tap. Tap tap.

“Hm?”

Tap. Tap.

“What's this?”

Looking straight ahead at Roel's voice, nothing had been typed in the Suggestion Box.

And the Windows key was flashing invitingly, as if urging me to press it.

“......”

A sudden unease hit me.

I hurriedly moved the mouse and reopened the video.

Roel's face was beet red as she hastily gathered and put on her clothes.

Her bare skin, covering only the essentials, filled my view unfiltered.

Whoa, her figure... No, not that.

I frantically hit the Windows key.

“......”

So that's what it was.

Rubbing my throbbing head, I minimized the window again.

Then I quickly typed a question and submitted it.

......So that's why the mouse worked fine.

I rubbed my dry face repeatedly and typed the next question.

I had a rough idea of what was going on now.

This was definitely possession. The fact that my appearance hadn't changed confirmed I was in a soul state.

And whatever I was experiencing was definitely due to some 'systematic system.'

Of course, it could all be the author's deception, but nitpicking that would lead nowhere, so I settled on a reasonable conclusion.

Next...

I asked a few more questions after that, but got nothing substantial.

Hardly any were answered properly, and most responses were macro-like repetitions.

I probably couldn't meet the author right away anyway, so I stopped there.

I closed the Suggestion Box and clicked the Shop.

“Ooh...”

A spark of interest ignited.

I scrolled down to check the products.

-Basic Swordsmanship

-Basic Spear Techniques

-Basic Marksmanship

Common stuff from system novels.

Since I wasn't running around myself, nothing I needed immediately.

I scrolled further.

-Low-Grade Regeneration (One-Time)

-Low-Grade Awakening (One-Time)

-Low-Grade Shock Absorption (One-Time)

-Low-Grade...

Still, most items were meaningless to me.

Were there just that few possessors in soul form?

I'd need to submit a suggestion about this.

Anyway.

At least one usable item caught my eye.

-Low-Grade Avatar (One-Time)

“An avatar.”

Was it the kind I was thinking of?

I read the description with high expectations.

“Yes!”

Better than I'd hoped.

Forget possession—summonable anywhere?

This was the perfect item for directly helping Roel right now.

So, the price?

“Ten thousand points?!”

I instinctively checked my points.

“......”

What?

Was this telling me to wake up?

“......The 5 points aren't for five words or something, right?”

If it was 1 point per word...

No, don't calculate that.

I shouldn't even speculate like this.

“There must be another way.”

Even without the avatar, nothing I could buy now anyway.

I closed the shop window and reopened Roel's screen.

Roel was in the training grounds.

Vigorously striking a dummy with a wooden sword.

It was nice to see her working hard, but it didn't seem like it'd lead to much growth.

“Hmm.”

I wanted to help her.

But how?

Messing around carelessly might make her strip again, which would be bad.

After some thought, something occurred to me, and I opened the Suggestion Box.